Twisted
by NarwhalAttack
Summary: Alex Drake isn't in love with Toby Cavanaugh anymore... she's in love with Aria Montgomery. And she'll do just about anything to stop Aria and Ezra's wedding. [AU 7x20]
1. Chapter 1

_AU where Alex Drake wasn't in love with Toby Cavanaugh— she was in love with Aria Montgomery._

1

With a rapidly beating heart, Spencer sat there, chained to the bed in some... underground dungeon that was supposedly built by her evil twin sister _Alex Drake_. Alex was sitting across from her with a wicked smile plastered on her face. She laughed just as wickedly, smirking at Spencer as if she had gotten everything that she had wanted. And maybe this really was what Alex had been wanting— to trap her here forever and ever, keeping her like a prisoner for the rest of time.

She had already explained a few things: she, obviously, was Mary's other daughter, and was given up for "adoption" (really, she was sold to a wealthy couple in England). She lived over in England for quite a while, then she ran into somebody there who was familiar in Spencer's life: Wren Kingston. She then developed a relationship with Wren. He was quite eager to be with Alex— she was a wild carbon copy of Spencer Hastings (somebody who he had never really gotten over). Wren introduced her to Charlotte Drake, and they became inseparable. Wren and Alex became inseparable from Charlotte and her lover Archer Dunhill. They became a group, and Alex loved Charlotte so much. _So_ , so much... Charlotte always told her tales of how horrible the Hastings family was.

That was why she was _devastated_ when she heard the news that Charlotte Drake had been murdered. Charlotte insisted that she would return to England soon, and then boarded on a plane to the United States. The disappointing part was that she never returned. Alex never saw her again.

Then, Alex decided to come to the United States after hearing about Charlotte's death from Wren. She visited her grave, and bawled her eyes out. Honestly, she loved Charlotte more than she loved Wren. But Wren was a very loyal man, and he loved Alex deeply— so much that he would do absolutely anything for her. So, Alex used that to her advantage. She decided that she was going to make _Spencer Hastings_ and her friends pay for making her lose Charlotte Drake. After convincing Wren to help her, and threatening Mona to do the same, Alex took on the game as A.D., torturing the girls as punishment for their hatred towards Charlotte, as well as forcing them to figure out who killed her. It worked in her favor: she got to torture the girls (who she hated) while getting them to find out the truth (which she wanted badly).

But as Alex watched the girls, she realized what she was missing out on. She didn't get the family and support that Spencer got, all by the luck of the draw. Instead, she was sent off to England. She had a family, but they didn't really love her. They didn't really care about her. But lucky Spencer had best friends that loved her unconditionally, forgave her for every mistake, stood by her side through thick and thin. And she had Toby, who had always been in love with her. She had so many people loving her. But Alex had nobody anymore. Her family didn't love her. Charlotte was dead. Archer was dead. There was _Wren_... but she wanted more than him. She wanted Spencer's life.

"So... if you got bored with Wren... where is he... now?" Spencer asked. She was afraid to get the answer, especially considering the twisted grin on Alex's face.

"I always keep him nearby," Alex responded, holding up her necklace. Spencer furrowed her eyebrows, unsure of what she was implying. Alex laughed again. "I turned him into diamond. I keep his ashes here."

Spencer brought a hand up to her mouth, shocked and disgusted. She felt her stomach churning. She didn't want it to be true. Sure, she never really had a real relationship with Wren, but how Alex had used him, killed him, and turned him into a diamond necklace was sickening and horrific.

"So, you want my friends? Is that it?" Spencer demanded.

Alex tilted her head to the side.

Spencer sighed. "...And Toby?"

Alex laughed loudly, hitting her hand against the wall to calm herself down.

"Can't you just leave him out of this?" Spencer begged.

Alex kicked her feet onto the ground, sitting up straight.

"Oh, Spencer... The thing is, I don't really want Toby. At least not anymore. I thought I did. He is _quite_ handsome, and he certainly loves us a lot," she laughed. "I wanted him at first. I kissed him goodbye before he settled for Yvonne. I could see it in his eyes that he wasn't over us. The kiss was great, and I was planning on seducing his vulnerable self after Yvonne died. Lucky for you, I didn't. My plan was to be with him, but I fell in love with somebody else."

Spencer felt relieved that she wasn't planning on messing with Toby anymore, but she was still fearful. Alex was obviously going to mess with whoever this person she had unexpectedly fallen in love with was.

Alex could tell that Spencer wanted to know who this person was. Smirking, she got up from where she was sitting and exited the room. She locked the door before walking across. She pressed a few buttons, and the gray walls split, uncovering the large glass doors of another room, just like Spencer's. Inside of the room was... _Ezra Fitz_. He was laying there unconsciously, but she could recognize him. She swallowed hard. Alex had kidnapped Ezra and brought him here, too?

"You're in love with... _Ezra_?" Spencer inquired, surprised.

Alex rolled her eyes, laughing again. "No, no, no... not him. He's just a pawn in the game to get what I really want. He was an obstacle I had to eliminate."

Spencer started putting the pieces together. What Alex had just said could only mean one thing...

"You're in love with _Aria_ ," Spencer concluded, staring at Ezra's 'cell' with wide eyes.

God, she hoped that he was just unconscious and not dead, but she wasn't sure, considering the fact that Alex was trying to eliminate him completely, not just keep him prisoner.

"I always knew you were a smart girl," Alex said, tapping on the glass of Ezra's cell. She turned around, looking back at Spencer. "You should be relieved now, though. Toby's all yours... well, _if_ you ever get out of here, that is. If you do, then... you're quite lucky, 'cause I've already seen it in his eyes. That boy's in love with you... or me. Oh, what could've been between us, if only I hadn't found somebody better."

Spencer furrowed her eyebrows. Alex loved Charlotte, her half-sister, and came to Rosewood to avenge her death. Somewhere along the way, she began to envy Spencer's lifestyle, and that was probably aided by the tales that Charlotte told Alex about the girls before her death. And during that time, she somehow went from obsessing over Toby to being in love with Aria. Spencer wasn't exactly sure of how everything fit together, but her primary concern at the moment was the fact that she and Ezra were locked up in this weird dungeon place, and Alex was about to go out into Rosewood and cause trouble... and she was setting her sights on _Aria_ , because apparently, she was in love with her.

Kidnapping Ezra made sense then. Alex loved Aria, but Aria was going to get married to Ezra tomorrow. Alex wanted to disrupt the wedding by making sure it never happened. And surely that meant that Ezra was going to die by the end of this, if everything went Alex's way.

But Spencer couldn't let that happen. She had to find a way to get out of here. She wasn't going to let Aria lose Ezra.

"Where are you going?" Spencer asked as Alex was preparing to leave, although Spencer already had an idea of where she was headed.

"Off to see Aria the night before the wedding that's not going to ever happen!" Alex laughed. Suddenly, she shifted to an American accent, "They're all expecting me back there soon for the big sleepover."

Spencer pressed her lips together. "Fine, but... what makes you think that this is gonna work out? Aria _loves_ Ezra. And you might love her... you might kill him... but what makes you think that she'll ever love you back?"

Alex tilted her head to the side with a smirk so large that it was scary.

"My lovely," she said in her British accent, "I already know that she _does_ love me."

"What?" Spencer asked, confused.

Alex stepped over to Spencer's 'cell.'

 **6 MONTHS AGO**

 _Aria was on her bed, searching for bridesmaids' dresses on her laptop. While she was staring intently at her screen, Alex climbed onto the bed, putting her hand on Aria's shoulder._

 _"Hey," Aria greeted. "I promise we'll sleep soon... Ezra's been nagging me to find the bridesmaids' dresses already." She turned to look at Alex. "What do you think of this one? I think you'd look so good in it, Spence."_

 _"Sure... maybe," Alex shrugged her shoulders. She pressed her lips together. "Hey, Aria... are you sure you really wanna go through with this? Are you sure you really wanna marry him?"_

 _Aria furrowed her eyebrows. "I mean... of course I want to. Where is this coming from? Why are you asking me this?"_

 _"I don't know," Alex responded. She suddenly looked up, staring right into Aria's eyes. "Well, actually... I kinda do know."_

 _Aria stared back at her, completely confused. Shockingly, Alex leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on Aria's lips. She made the first one gentle to ease her into this, not wanting to scare her away. Quite obviously, Aria was going to be confused. She was supposed to marry a man in six months, and now her best friend was asking her if she was sure about it and kissing her? Luckily, Aria didn't fight it. It took her a bit, but she ended up kissing back._

 _"Spence..." she breathed, unsure of what to do. "What about Toby? You were telling me that you still—"_

 _"Shh," Alex smiled. "Toby's in Africa. I'll deal with that later. And I won't tell Ezra about this... or anyone. In fact, we don't ever have to talk about it again. I've just... I've wanted to do this for a long time, so can't we just do this once? It'll be our secret, I swear. You can still marry him if you want to."_

 _Aria was still confused. Of course she loved Ezra. She had always loved him. They had a great, beautiful love story, and she intended to marry him all along. But her friendship with Spencer had always been special, too. She just never thought that it was possible for anything to happen between them, since both of them were supposedly straight. Plus, Spencer had recently been talking about the possibility of getting back together with Toby when he returned from doing charity work in Africa with Jason. It seemed out of the blue, but she couldn't help what she was feeling._

 _When Alex kissed her again, she gave in. With their lips still pressed together, Aria shut her laptop and pushed it off of the bed. She let Alex dominate, kissing her harder and harder, and pushing her back against the bed. Skillfully, Alex pulled her tank top over her head, revealing a sexy black bra underneath. Aria knew that she wouldn't be able to stop herself. Whether or not this meant anything, she was too attracted to Spencer in the moment to stop this._

 **PRESENT TIME**

"Oh my _God_!" Spencer cried. "You slept with Aria, pretending to be me!?"

Alex grinned. "Relax, Spencer. I was going to do the same with Toby, but luckily for you, I started to fall for Aria way back. When I came back to town, I decided I needed to act on what I felt for her before it was too late... before she married Ezra with a clear head."

"Is that why you targeted Aria back when we were playing the game? Is that why you blackmailed her into working for you?" Spencer asked.

"I guess so. I loved playing with her... talking to her. Part of me was hoping that she wouldn't complete every task that I said, because then I could send that file and have Ezra shipped off to jail. But, this works, too. I'll just stop their wedding and kill him instead," Alex shrugged her shoulders, still smiling menacingly.

"Oh God..." Spencer muttered, running a hand through her bangs. She had no clue how she was going to escape from this place and save Ezra before crazy Alex returned and murdered him.

She also couldn't believe that Aria apparently had feelings for her. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to do with that information. But whether or not Aria still truly wanted to marry Ezra, she wasn't going to let Alex murder him. She needed to find out how to get out of here.

Maybe it was a good thing that Alex was running off right now to go pretend to be her, because it bought her time. While she was crawling into bed with the other girls the night before the wedding, Spencer had time to figure out how to escape. It was much better than Alex staying here and murdering Ezra first.

"We can chit-chat more later, my dear sister," Alex said, and started walking away from Spencer's cell again. She shifted back to her American accent. "I've got to get to the Lost Woods Resort before any of the girls start wondering where I am!"


	2. Chapter 2

_Clarifications: Spencer (Alex) and Toby didn't sleep together in 7x18 like they did in the show. It's better that way because it fits with Alex's love for Aria. Also, I really don't like that they made Toby get used sexually again after what he went through with Jenna, so I would like to stray from that plot. Also, we're going to say that Spencer (not Alex) and Toby are the ones who slept together in 7x20, because again, I would not like to have him go through that after his past. Plus, it wouldn't be fitting at all if Alex hooked up with Toby at this point._

2

Alex entered the Lost Woods Resort room that the girls were staying at the night before Aria's wedding. She had stolen the master key from Spencer's bag while Spencer was unconscious. She smirked as she walked into one of the bedrooms. On this bed, Emily and Alison were sleeping. They were cuddled up together, deeply asleep. Alex exited the room— that wasn't the one that she wanted to be in. She went to the next bedroom. There, Hanna and Aria were already sleeping. Although Alex would've preferred the bed without Hanna, she climbed onto it and relaxed her body. Reaching over, she stroked Aria's hair gently, tucking it behind her ear.

"Oh, Aria..." she whispered quietly, gazing at the girl too lovingly. "It's been too long since I've been with you. But don't worry: I'm here to stay."

Aria was sleeping too deeply to hear a word that she was saying. Alex cuddled up closely to Aria, wrapping her arms around the girl, careful not to wake her up.

x x x

Spencer sat there in the cell in silence, analyzing the door. She had been in so many locked spaces before and figured out how to get out, but she couldn't figure it out this time. Alex really built this thing well. Part of her wished that Ezra was awake so that she had some moral support and some extra brainpower, because she was starting to feel like she couldn't do this alone anymore. She felt so alone— she really just wished to hear somebody else (who was _sane_ ) talking to her. It felt hopeless. Maybe she really would be stuck here forever, and Alex would take over her life. After all, she did make a very convincing Spencer. Aria had never even mentioned the fact that "they" had slept together. And Toby had never mentioned that "they" had kissed.

Spencer stopped thinking of ways to break out of the chain... ways to get out of there... ways to grab Ezra and escape. She sat there without much motion, shutting her eyes, beginning to think that maybe she should just accept it— maybe this was actually what she deserved all along. After all, she was partially responsible for Archer Dunhill's death, but she didn't go to jail for it. Mary did.

Just then, someone entered "the dungeon." Spencer opened her eyes and looked up, wondering if Alex had come back early for some reason— maybe she realized that she needed to kill Ezra before moving along with her Aria plans. Luckily, that wasn't the case. It was Mary Drake, who Spencer still had a small shred of hope for. Part of her believed that Mary really did care about her.

"Hello, Spencer," Mary greeted, stepping over to Spencer's cell. "I thought you might want dinner, so I brought you some dinner."

Mary held a brown paper bag up, but the pain in Spencer's stomach made all food seem repulsive at the moment. All she wanted was to get out of here and get her life back. The past year where she thought A.D. and A were out of her life for good was amazing. She had time to think about herself, her friends, her career, her love life, her future. She was planning on asking Toby out once he returned, just for dinner or something simple, and taking it slow. And he did return. He wasn't planning on coming back for the wedding, but he did. And they went up to his room on the night before the rehearsal dinner, played Scrabble, and fell asleep... it felt like old times.

Although her plan was to take it slow with him, she couldn't help herself after spending time with him— all those old feelings came rushing back. She made an impulsive decision and went to his hotel room at the Radley one morning, then just kissed him. They ended up having sex, and that was the last time she saw him before Mona whacked her and brought her to Alex Drake's dungeon.

"Mary... what do I do? Why did you let this happen to me?" Spencer asked, pain in her eyes. She thought she could trust Mary, especially after she had taken the blame for Archer Dunhill's murder.

"I'm sorry," Mary sighed, feeling guilty as she looked into Spencer's eyes. "She told me that she wouldn't hurt you. There was nothing I could do but comply."

Spencer felt tears welling up in her eyes. But God, she was so sick of crying... she wanted to stop crying, and finally just be happy. She thought that she was going to get that once A.D. left a year ago, but now _this_ happened.

"Maybe she won't hurt me, but she's gonna keep me locked up in here forever!" Spencer cried. "That's not any better! And she's gonna hurt my friends, and God... I don't want her hurting them. What if she hurts Aria? She _will_ hurt her if she hurts Ezra—"

"I know you're scared," Mary said.

"That's it? That's all you're gonna say? 'I know you're scared?' _God_ , Mary... I thought you wanted to make things right between us. I thought you would protect me," Spencer shook her head.

"I _am_ protecting you, Spencer," Mary said, sighing. "But I can only protect you. I can't keep her from hurting anyone else, but I have her word that she won't hurt you."

"Well, I'd rather be dead than kept as her prisoner here for the rest of my life while she steals my life," Spencer hissed, folding her arms. "And I can't sit here satisfied because I'm 'safe.' I need to know that my friends are safe. I _need_ to know that Aria is safe."

"She won't hurt Aria. You already know how she feels about her," Mary assured her.

"That's not enough!" Spencer cried. "I don't want her doing _anything_ to Aria. I don't want her kissing her or tricking her into sleeping with her, or... I don't want her to get _used_ like that."

"I know you love Aria a lot, but you need to focus on yourself. There's nothing you can to do save her or any of your friends right now. I don't think Alex wants to hurt any of them other than Ezra, but let's not worry about that right now. Eat your dinner. Everything will be okay. I promise," Mary assured her, but Spencer didn't believe anything. Her words weren't calming.

"Will I keep seeing you?" Spencer asked, biting her lip.

Mary stared at the floor. "I'm not sure. It depends on what Alex wants. I don't think she wants me to keep checking on you. She doesn't fully trust me. It took a lot of persuasion for her to let me bring you your dinner."

"Then if this is goodbye, can you just be my mother for one second and say goodbye to me?" Spencer begged. "Please... I don't want things to end like this: win you dropping off dinner and disappearing forever."

Mary was hesitant, contemplating what she should do, but soon gave in and nodded her head. She pulled out a key and unlocked Spencer's door. She was fine with her decision because she knew that Spencer was still chained to the bed, so she couldn't trick her and just run outside. Mary entered Spencer's cell, and set the brown paper bag with the dinner down on the bed. Spencer stood up, launching herself as far as she could with the restricting chain into Mary's arms, hugging her tightly, as if it were the last time that she would see her biological mother. She placed her hands on Mary's long brown hair, gripping it.

"Goodbye, my darling," Mary whispered. "I promise that I'll try to convince Alex to let me see you again."

"Okay," she breathed, nodding her head. A few tears began rolling down her cheeks. "Goodbye... for now, then."

Mary smiled at her weakly and began slowly backing out of Spencer's room. Soon, she disappeared completely, and Spencer had no idea if she would ever see her again. But that wasn't what was important right now. What was important was that she had grabbed a bobby pin from Mary's hair while they were hugging.

Sitting down on the bed, she folded her leg so that it was on her lap. She jammed the bobby pin into the keyhole of the cuff that chained her to the bed, and wiggled it around the way that she had done so many times in the past to pick locks. It was difficult to get this lock to budge, but eventually, she pushed the pin correctly. The cuff came off, and Spencer stood up from the bed freely. There was a red mark around her ankle, and it certainly did sting a bit to walk after being chained up for so long.

She rushed over to the actual door, ready to start picking the lock and get the hell out of there. She wasn't sure how she was going to drag Ezra's unconscious body out, but that was a problem for later. First, she had to pick the lock. Luckily, she had all night to figure this out, since Alex was sleeping over at the Lost Woods. She just hoped that Alex wouldn't pull any stunts tonight and would wait until tomorrow.

Before she could stick the bobby pin inside of the door's lock, she heard a loud groan. She looked across from her and saw a groggy Ezra waking up inside of his cell. He slowly pulled himself up off the floor, pressing his hand against his forehead, rubbing it softly to lessen the pain. He gripped the leg of the bed, pulling himself up so that he was standing up. His eyes widened at the cuff that chained him to the bed. As soon as he saw that, he looked up and met eyes with Spencer.

"Spencer?" he called her name. "What is going on?"

She had no idea how much to tell him. She would explain the twin thing, maybe, but she didn't think it would be a very good idea to tell him that Aria had slept with Alex.

"We need to get out of here," she said.

He furrowed his eyebrows. "Where's Aria? Is she all right?"

Spencer pressed her lips together. She could tell how much Ezra loved Aria. It would break his heart to know what happened. She decided that this wasn't the time to talk to him about that. He would become too distraught to focus and work hard to get out of there.

"Yeah, she's fine. But we do need to get out of here."

"I'm so confused. Last thing I remember was that I was talking to _you_ , and you asked me to come with you, but I said I had to go see Aria, and you glared right at me..." he explained. "Now I'm here."

Spencer swallowed. "I know it might sound crazy, but... that wasn't me, Ezra. That was... Alex... Alex Drake."

" _Alex Drake_?" he asked like it was crazy.

"She's... um, my twin sister," Spencer replied, but felt that he wasn't going to believe her.

Ezra raised his eyebrows.

"I'm betting you think that's crazy, right? You don't believe me?" she asked.

He shook his head. "No, I believe you. Surprisingly, that isn't the craziest thing that's happened in this town."

Spencer laughed, shaking her head.

"Well, she's trying to steal my life now, apparently because I got the better deal: better friends, family, love, life," she sighed. "And she was planning on keeping me locked in here forever. I think she was planning on killing you, too. But we're not gonna let any of that happen. I got this bobby pin from Mary, and I'm gonna use it to get us both out of here—"

"Did you _really_ think you could get away with that, Spencer?" The British accent was back.

Spencer and Ezra both turned their heads to look at the entrance, and saw _Alex_ walking in. It was Ezra's first time seeing Alex knowing that she was _Alex_ and not Spencer, and he was baffled. There were _two_ of them. His eyes darted back and forth between Spencer and Alex, unable to accept this reality. He calmed himself down. However, he knew that Spencer's escape plan was foiled.

"I was planning on sparing you because you're my blood and family, Spencer, but you're making me change my mind. It'd be a shame if you changed my mind," Alex told her. "Now, _Ezra_... well, his fate is already sealed. And I'd suggest you stop what you're doing now, Spencer. I should've known that I couldn't trust that snake Mary Drake."

"She didn't give it to me, I—" Spencer began.

Alex rolled her eyes. "Well, you're a fool to think that I don't have cameras of this place to make sure you're behaving real well. You are going to be just _fine_ here, Spencer. I promise to keep you well-fed, and you've got that comfortable little bed over there. And just think about all the fun I'll have as Spencer!"

Spencer gritted her teeth. Alex pulled out a key and unlocked Spencer's door. Spencer was considering pushing past her and making a run for it, but she could see that Alex was carrying a gun, so it would be too risky to run out of there and also get Ezra out, too. It wouldn't work. So, she remained there as Alex entered, snatching the bobby pin from her hands, and stepped outside. She pushed Spencer back and put the cuff on her ankle again. She locked the door after leaving.

"Don't try and cross me again," Alex warned.

Spencer remained silent as Alex glared at Ezra before storming out.

"We really are stuck, aren't we?" Ezra bit his lip.

Spencer didn't answer him. She didn't have any hope anymore.

x x x

The next morning, all the girls were waking up and getting ready to head to breakfast, unaware of the imposter in the room.

"Morning," Emily greeted everyone, running a towel through her hair to dry it. She bent down and pecked Alison's lips, and then sat down on the bed with the others.

"That was a _long_ shower," Alison commented, raising her eyebrows.

"Yeah, well, she must've been preparing for the _post-wedding sex_ ," Hanna joked, smirking proudly.

Emily rolled her eyes.

"That must be why Aria's taking such a long time, too, huh?" Alison joked. "Ezra's a lucky man."

The three girls laughed together at Alison's comment, but Alex didn't. She gritted her teeth, not finding it funny. She didn't want to think about Aria and Ezra doing _that_. But only she knew at that moment that the post-wedding sex wasn't going to happen. The wedding wasn't going to happen on her watch. The groom was locked up.

"I'm _starving_ ," Hanna complained. "Can we go down to eat breakfast already?"

"Don't you want to wait for Aria?" Emily asked. "Should we really be abandoning her on her wedding day?"

Alex shook her head. "No, no... don't worry about it. You guys should go ahead and eat. I'll stay here and wait for Aria."

"Really, Spence? You'd wait?" Alison asked.

Alex nodded her head. "It's no problem. I'm happy to wait for her. I'm not dying to eat, anyway."

"Okay, if you _insist_!" Hanna exclaimed, eagerly standing up. "Come on, let's go already, please!"

Emily, Alison, and Hanna left the room together. Alex smiled to herself smugly. She was blending in the group perfectly. It was like she was already one of them. And now, she got to spend some good alone time with Aria. Her plan was to confuse her even more about her wedding on her wedding day. And Alex was one to always think with her groin, so to her, it was quite fortunate that Aria was still in the shower.

Alex turned the knob, content that she didn't think to lock the door. Her body tingled at the sound of the running water, so she quickly shed her clothes. She pushed past the shower curtains, stepping inside of the shower wearing absolutely nothing. Aria, who was running shampoo through her hair, nearly screamed as she turned around. Alex, however, put her hand on Aria's mouth to shut her up. Aria felt slightly more calm that it was only "Spencer" inside of the shower, but she was extremely confused.

" _Spencer_ ," she said with a trembling lip. "W-what are you doing?"

"Don't talk about it and ruin a good thing," Alex whispered.

She leaned in, pressing her lips against Aria's. It was a wet, warm kiss. Alex pushed her back against the shower wall, leaving one hand on the wall, and the other on Aria's naked side. She moved her lips downwards, trailing kisses down Aria's jawline and neck. Aria didn't know what the hell she was doing— she was getting married that day, but there she was, making out with her best friend in the shower.

"Spencer, please," she pleaded while Alex kept kissing her neck. "I-I can't do this right now. I'm... getting married today."

"You don't have to get married today," Alex whispered, brushing her hands down Aria's body.

" _Spence_ ," Aria choked.

"You want me to get out?" Alex asked, raising her eyebrows, finally pulling her lips back.

Aria stood there in silence, indicating that she wasn't exactly super adamant that "Spencer" left the shower. Alex, smirking, leaned back in and kissed her again.

"Let me help you with that," Alex whispered, bringing her hands up to Aria's head, starting to massage the shampoo into her scalp.

x x x

"Spencer..." Aria muttered, pulling her t-shirt over her head. "Are we ever gonna talk about... anything? I tried my best to ignore it for so long, but after _this_? You're sending me mixed signals."

"There are no more mixed signals," Alex assured her. She sat down on the bed. "I know what I feel."

Aria sighed, shaking her head.

"Why are you telling me this _now_?" Aria demanded. "Why are you doing this _now_? Today's the day of my freaking _wedding_!"

"I know it's late... I _know_ ," Alex sighed, "and I'm sorry okay? I was scared. It's hard to compete with your _fiancé_."

"You kept talking about _Toby_ ," Aria hissed.

"He was all I had, okay?" Alex explained. "I tried to settle for what I had, because I knew he'd always want me. He was the safe choice. I know it's late, but I'm taking the risk now. Doesn't that count for anything?"

"Maybe it does, but everything's complicated now. I promised the rest of my life to Ezra. I promised to love him forever," Aria shook her head. "He loves me so much, you know that?"

"And you?" Alex asked. "Do you love _him_?"

Aria swallowed hard. "Of course I love him."

"You haven't promised anything to him yet. You haven't married him yet," Alex reminded her. "Just tell me this: do you love _me_?"

Aria swallowed even harder, struggling to make her eyes meet Alex's.

"Of course I love you, Spence," Aria breathed. "How could I not love you?"

"Then don't marry him," Alex said.

"It's not that _simple_ ," Aria told her, frustrated. "Do you know what it's like to love two people? And I spent the last six months assuring myself that Ezra's the one I'm meant to spend the rest of my life with. I convinced myself, and I believe it now. He's standing by me through everything. He's supporting me through the adoption, and I... I love him, too. You have to understand."

"You're going through with it?" Alex asked, offended. "You're marrying him?"

"How can I not?" Aria bit her lip.

"Aria, I've been here for you through everything, too..."

"I _know_ , but... you don't know how difficult this is for me. You're springing this decision on me on the day of my wedding!" Aria cried.

But Alex was greedy. After a lifetime full of being deprived of the love she wanted, she couldn't stand this. She hated that Aria was choosing that _man_ over her.

"How can you say that you love Ezra and me equally?" she demanded, slamming her hand down on the bed. " _Aria_ , he is the guy who staged your first meeting and stalked you... _us_... to write a crime novel. He's a liar. I can't stand the thought of knowing that you're marrying _him_."

Aria knew that many of the things that she was saying were true. He did do all of that. He did lie to her, stalk her, manipulate her. She had forgiven him somehow, but she certainly hadn't forgotten. And hearing all of it aloud again did make her upset. She thought about that dark time where all she could do was bawl her eyes out because the man she loved betrayed her.

"Fine," Alex said bitterly. She fought the urge to smile smugly although she could see, in Aria's eyes, that she had cast doubt. "If this is _really_ what you want then fine. You know I'd never stop you from your happiness... I love you too much to do that." She paused, then stood up from the bed. "We should go down to eat breakfast. The others are already eating."

Aria nodded her head weakly. She swallowed hard as Alex walked out of the room. She now had to make a huge decision just hours before her wedding, which would decide whether or not the wedding would even happen.

x x x

 _Note: Wow, guys! I can't thank you all enough for the amount of positive feedback that this story has received— I certainly wasn't expecting it. I'm super excited to be writing this story because I kept seeing people online saying things about how it would've made so much more sense for Alex to have been in love with Aria (she seemed to have affection towards her, and seemed very anti-Ezra... coincidence?). But since it didn't come true on-screen, I thought I'd just write out a scenario myself. And it sure is loads of fun to write Alex Drake. It's quite a conflicting thing, that's for sure— Alex loves Aria, Aria loves Ezra Spencer, Spencer loves Toby (unsure of what Aria's love for her means for them). I hope you all enjoy the story, and I apologize if it isn't going in the direction you'd hoped, but I do know that I can't please everyone, unfortunately._


	3. Chapter 3

_Note: Again, I can't thank you all enough for your positive responses to this story! It's a twisted thing to write, but it sure is fun. And I'm sorry it took me a while to get the next chapter out; I was working on my other story "Forever Tied," which is a story about the old love interests returning to the girls' lives three years after graduating from high school, which you should totally check out right now (shameless plug)! Okay, okay, I'll stop. Here's the next chapter of the story! And as always, your reviews are much appreciated._

3

After breakfast, Aria realized that she was going to have to make a decision. And whichever decision she made, she would end up hurting somebody she cared deeply for. If she picked Spencer, then she had to break Ezra's heart on their _wedding day_. If she picked Ezra, she would have to break her best friend's heart, and possibly could damage their longtime friendship. She hated hurting Spencer.

Once Alex was done eating, she went back to their room. Reluctantly, she picked up her bridesmaid dress from the bag. The only thing keeping her going was the fact that this wedding wasn't going to happen. She had faith that things would go her way.

"Spence, can I come inside?" Aria asked, knocking on the door. "The others are still downstairs."

"Yeah, sure," Alex said.

Aria twisted the knob and opened the door. She bit her lip as she stepped inside and locked eyes with Alex.

"I've been thinking all morning," Aria told her. "About you... about Ezra... about the wedding... about everything."

Alex tilted her head to the side, analyzing Aria's eyes. She could read her so easily. She knew what Aria was going to say.

"Let me guess: you've decided to go through with marrying Ezra, and because I'm your best friend, you know I'll understand. Right?"

"Well... I don't expect you to understand," Aria shook her head. "I can't even explain myself, but in my heart, it feels like the right decision."

"Really?" Alex scoffed. "Marrying _him_ feels like the right decision?"

"I know you don't really approve of him, but he's not a bad guy. Yes, he's hurt me in the past, but that was the past. I'm all about forgiving people, because I know people can change. Think about all that we've been through, Spence. Alison hurt Emily so many times in the past, but look at them... they're engaged and have two beautiful children together. They're happy. And Toby— he hurt you, too, but you know he's a good guy, and you forgave him. Caleb hurt Hanna a lot, but they're married. Ezra made mistakes, but haven't we all? I've hurt all of you in the past, too," Aria explained.

Alex shook her head. "Forget about the others. This is about us. Maybe you can forgive him, but what about everything we've been through together? Aria— I stood by your side picking up the pieces every time Ezra hurt you. How the hell could you pick him over me? You always choose him over us— your _friends_ — and it stings. When A.D. made you work for her, you did it to protect Ezra, and you hurt all of us—"

"Wait, did you just say _she_?" Aria questioned. "What makes you think that A.D. was a girl?"

Alex's eyes widened just a bit, but she stopped herself. _Crap_ , she thought. She knew she'd slipped up, but at least it wasn't too bad. She could worm her way out of this one— she hadn't spilled anything.

"I don't know, I just always had a feeling," Alex shrugged her shoulders. "You're missing the point, Aria! That's irrelevant! The point is that you need to stop choosing the people who constantly hurt you and start choosing the ones who have always been there for you!"

Aria stared for too long into Alex's eyes, and she knew that if she didn't stop, she would melt and make more impulsive decisions. The way that Alex was looking at her was already too much for her. Using all the self-control she had left, she peeled her eyes off of Alex and focused them on the floor instead.

"Aria. Don't do this, please," she pleaded. "I _know_ it's late, but I'm telling you now."

She fought her urge to melt into Alex's arms and let her hold her tightly. All parts of her were now telling her to just let herself be with Spencer. But she tried to remain strong and go through with her promise to Ezra.

"I, um... I have to start getting ready for the wedding," Aria excused herself.

x x x

Alex was furious. She was hurt and rejected, and that kind of pain had always been there in her life, and she was so sick of being hurt. All her life, it was just one painful experience after another. And she thought that it would all end when she became Spencer Hastings instead of Alex Drake because people actually cared about Spencer Hastings. But for some reason, she was still getting hurt as Spencer.

It would have been easier to just love Toby Cavanaugh, but she _had_ to fall for somebody else. The problem with loving Aria wasn't that she didn't love Spencer back, it was that she truly did have a great amount of love for Ezra, even if he hurt her so many times in the past. Toby, however, would _always_ choose Spencer. There was nobody he came close to loving as much as he loved her. It would have been simple to get him.

There was just a little while before the wedding. Aria was putting her white dress on, making all the last-minute adjustments before what she believed was going to be her wedding. Alex kept reminding herself that it was all going to be okay since there was no chance that Ezra would show up, but for some reason, that wasn't enough. It still was stinging her that Aria chose to marry him.

"Guys?"

The voice came from Aria. She stepped into the room wearing her long-sleeved wedding gown. Alex didn't particularly like that dress all that much, but she was still at a loss for words because _Aria_ was the one who was wearing it. And she even made a normally horrendous dress look fantastic.

The other girls gasped and cheered, amazed and excited by the whole wedding. To them, it was just Aria getting married to the so-called "love of her life."

"You look _beautiful_ ," Emily commented, almost in tears.

She was so emotional that Alison was afraid that she was going to drop their baby Grace. Alex decided to step in. She took Grace from Emily's arms, rocking her gently. She went to the mirror in the room, looking at her reflection. She was proud of herself: she made a pretty damn convincing Spencer Hastings. Maybe she really could pull this stunt off. She kissed the top of Grace's head.

"I always knew that Wren would make the prettiest little babies," she whispered so quietly that nobody else could hear her.

It was true that Wren was the father of the twins. Alex did love Wren, at least for a little while. Her love for him surely wasn't as great as her love for Aria, but she did love him. She especially loved his loyalty to her. He was wrapped around her finger, maybe because he had always been pining after Spencer and found a carbon copy who was actually willing to be with him.

As much as she wanted to be the girls' friend, she still hated them for killing Archer Dunhill. Sure, he was horrible to them, but he loved Charlotte, and Charlotte loved him. Charlotte was dead, and now so was Archer. It pissed her off, and she somehow felt that Alison was responsible for his death. And Emily certainly was, too.

If it wasn't for Emily's persistence and need to protect Alison from all harm, maybe Archer wouldn't have been killed. After all, Archer possibly would've gotten away with everything he did if Emily hadn't kept visiting Alison at Welby and trying to help her escape. So, Alex didn't feel _too_ bad about what she had done to Alison while she was at Welby.

Back when she found out that Emily had donated her eggs to make money to pay for her college but the couple backed out once they got pregnant themselves, Alex was ecstatic. Emily's eggs were just sitting there frozen in the hospital, and Alex couldn't wait to get her hands on them. This was before she had decided to punish Emily and Alison for Archer's death.

She knew she was going to kill Wren back then. She was already falling in love with Aria just a little while after coming to Rosewood, and eventually, she was going to kill him. She didn't really need him anymore, and he was starting to become skeptical of her plans, trying to talk her out of them. But he was quite the beautiful face, so she shamelessly wanted to make sure that his beautiful kid came into the world. And as much as she despised Emily at the time, she couldn't deny how gorgeous the former swimmer was. Who would make more beautiful children than Wren and Emily together?

The sick idea came to Alex's head while she saw Alison powerlessly laying there in Welby. She came up with the procedure to fertilize Emily's eggs using Wren's sperm and impregnating Alison. Wren obviously ended up complying, because he couldn't turn down a request when Alex begged him. It sure was sick, but Alex thought it was incredible how she could do it. And to be fair, at that time, Alex was convinced that Alison was Charlotte's killer. The girls had given her the red jacket and made her believe that it was Alison in exchange for Hanna's freedom. She swore that she would make the person who hurt Charlotte pay, and this was her way of getting back at her. Not only did it violate Alison, but it also violated Emily, the only person who Alison truly loved.

Alex felt bad after she found out that Mona was Charlotte's killer and not Alison, but the damage was already done at that point. And, in the goodness of it all, it brought Emily and Alison closer together. She looked at them now: they were engaged, happy, and raising two beautiful twins together. She was honestly proud of herself. She was like Cupid. If it wasn't for her, Alison could've went on _forever_ without telling Emily how she felt! Alex convinced herself that what she did was for the greater good. She also convinced herself that they deserved it, anyways, for being responsible for Archer's death.

All in all, Grace and Lily really were beautiful children. She would always tell herself that she did everyone a favor through her actions.

Just then, Pam Fields walked inside of the room smiling brightly. She went over to Alison and took Lily from her arms, then approached Alex and took Grace.

"You girls deserve the night to yourselves. I'll take care of the girls," Pam told them. She turned to Aria, tilting her head to the side. "Oh, Aria... you look so lovely. I'm so happy for you, and I wish you all the happiness in the world in your new life with Ezra."

Aria smiled back. "Thank you, Mrs. Fields. I really appreciate it."

Alex had the fight the urge to roll her eyes. There Aria was, accepting everybody's congratulations and praises about her "new life" with Ezra. It still bothered her that she was ready to move on to that new life with him, even though Alex knew that it wasn't really going to happen. She had Ezra locked up, so even if Aria wanted to go through with that new life, there was no way it would happen. And he'd soon be dead, too.

Pam took the twins and left the room. While she was leaving, the next visitor came inside. It was Toby.

"Hey," he huffed out reluctantly to greet everybody. He did _not_ seem happy at all, even though it was the big wedding day. "Um, I've been checking everywhere... Ezra still isn't here, and he hasn't been answering any of my text messages."

Aria pressed her lips together. She seemed to be in disbelief.

"What? There's no way that he wouldn't show up," she told him, shaking her head. "I'm sorry, Toby, but there's just no way. He just must be running late or something. He can't text back while he's driving."

Alison nodded her head, putting her hand on Aria's shoulder sympathetically.

"Yeah, Aria's right," she agreed. "There's no way that he wouldn't show up to his own wedding. There's no _reason_ for him not to show up."

"Maybe he's just stuck in traffic or something," Emily chimed in.

"Yeah, maybe... I don't know," Toby shrugged his shoulders. "I guess we'll just have to wait on it. I'll head back outside and wait."

Alex shook her head. She stepped over to Toby, putting her hand on his arm and running it down slowly and flirtatiously. Through her peripheral vision, she saw that Aria was watching the gesture. She smirked to herself proudly. She knew she was getting under Aria's skin even though she was waiting for her fiancé to show up to their wedding.

"You should stay here and wait with us," she told him in a low and raspy voice. "Text Caleb and tell him to stay on the lookout for Ezra."

"Okay, I'll do that," Toby nodded his head, tensing up when Alex touched his arm.

To his surprise, before he could get his phone out to send the text, Alex put her hand on the back of his neck, went on to her tiptoes, and pulled him in for a long kiss. She moved her hand upwards, scraping through his hair and massaging his scalp, kissing him harder and harder, knowing that Aria was probably watching them devour each other's mouths right then and there. When she pulled back, she smirked... hard. Toby looked a bit confused.

"Trust me, there's a lot more where _that_ came from," she flirted. "You'll see that tonight."

Aria fidgeted with a strand of her hair, twirling it around. She was frustrated that Spencer was being so openly flirtatious with Toby, but she felt like she deserved it. She was the one who chose to marry Ezra, after all. She kept feeling like she was making a mistake now. She didn't understand why she was making out with Toby after what happened earlier that day. Maybe she was trying to move on with a more suitable and reciprocating option, or she was just trying to cause some jealousy before the ceremony could begin.

Toby certainly was stunned. He knew that Spencer could get quite sultry and flirtatious when it was just the two of them alone, but she was never one to throw it in everyone's faces. He decided that it was just a change in confidence. After all, they hadn't really dated in a long time, so maybe she just changed and became more forward. Plus, they had just slept together recently, so it wasn't _totally_ weird. They just hadn't had any talks about getting back together yet. He brushed it off; it was probably nothing.

They all waited in there for a while longer, but it was starting to feel hopeless. Aria had so much on her mind— Ezra was extremely late to their own wedding, and Spencer was practically throwing herself at Toby in front of her.

Caleb entered the room with a nervous expression on his face.

"Hey... Guys, Ezra still isn't here, and the guests are starting to get impatient that the wedding isn't happening," he announced, scratching his head. "I'm not sure what to do at this point."

Alex scoffed. "Isn't it obvious now? He stood you up, Aria."

"He wouldn't do that," she denied, shaking her head.

"But he _did_ do that. He _already_ did that!" Alex cried, standing up and stepping away from where she and Toby were sitting. She approached Aria. "Look around you: it's your wedding day and he didn't show up. I always had a feeling that he was an unreliable guy. Maybe it's better you know now, rather than committing to spend the rest of your life with somebody like him."

Aria felt the weight of her accusatory words. She didn't want them to be true because then her friendship with Spencer would be even more damaged. Then, she chose Ezra over Spencer even after Spencer told her that he was a bad guy before. She didn't want him to be the type of guy that Spencer described.

"He just... wouldn't," she shook her head. "I just don't believe that he wouldn't show up without as much as a text message!"

Alison sighed, rushing to Aria's side to comfort her.

"Hey, maybe there's another reason that he's not here," she tried.

" _Traffic_ does not take that long," Alex rolled her eyes.

" _Spencer_ , try to be a little sympathetic here!" Alison said sternly. "Aria's dealing with something right now, so she doesn't need you to have an unsupportive attitude."

Alex's face softened when she saw Aria crying there. It did hurt her to see the person she loved bawling her eyes out, even though she was bawling because Ezra didn't show up. _That_ hurt Alex.

"I'm sorry, Aria," Alex breathed. She sat down next to the bawling bride and put her hand on her shoulder. "I'm so sorry that he would do this to you. He doesn't deserve somebody as amazing as you are, anyway. You know that now."

Alison furrowed her eyebrows, shaking her head. "I just— I don't understand _why_ he would do this. Why would he wait until the wedding day to disappear? It just doesn't make sense. If he didn't want to marry her, he could've broken it off earlier."

"It is weird," Caleb agreed, nodding his head. "While I was outside, I talked to his parents. They have no idea where he is, either. Would he really just ditch his whole family and everyone, just like that?"

"Did something happen between you guys?" Hanna asked, kneeling down beside Aria. "When was the last time you saw him?"

Aria swallowed hard. "Yesterday..."

"And?" Hanna raised her eyebrows. "Was it just a normal discussion?"

Aria bit her lip.

"No," she confessed. "We actually, uh... we actually got into a fight last night. I, um... I told him about that thing... you know— I can't have children. I told him that yesterday, and he was really supportive of it. But later, he asked me how long I've known about it, and I told him that I've actually known for a while, and we got into a bit of an argument because... he thought that I don't trust him and I think of him lowly, and it... I just, I didn't think that he would _leave me_ because of it."

Alex squeezed her shoulders. "Maybe he couldn't handle it. Some people are like that— they can't handle the truth and they get mad when you give it to them."

"Do we really think that he didn't show up today because of that fight?" Emily asked. "I'm not sure if I believe that." She pressed her lips together, looking around the room nervously.

Alison furrowed her eyebrows, noticing her fianceé's worried expression. She put her hand on Emily's shoulder, squeezing it gently.

"Em, what is it?" she asked.

Emily sighed. "Look, I hate to be the one to bring this up because I _never_ wanted to talk about this again, but... is there any chance that this has something to do with A.D.? I know they've been gone for a really long time, but what if they came back just in time to ruin this big day?"

Alex felt her heart beating faster. _Crap_.

"What would they get out of ruining Aria and Ezra's wedding?" Hanna asked, shaking her head. "I really don't want to go back to the whole A.D. thing. I thought my life was free of that."

"We _all_ did," Emily said. "But that doesn't mean it's not a possibility. And A.D. has done a lot of things that we didn't understand the reasoning behind. Hell, she made Ali have my baby! I just wouldn't put A.D. being behind this out of the question yet."

"No offense, but I'd rather have it be that Ezra stood you up than A.D. returning..." Hanna bluntly spoke.

Aria sniffled, wiping the tears from her face.

"Look, I don't know if this is happening just because Ezra doesn't want to marry me or because A.D. has something to do with it, but I can't let anything happen to him," she spoke up. "Even if there's only a small chance that this is A.D.'s doing, we have to do something... because I can't stand back knowing that we could've done something to save him all along."

Caleb sighed, kneeling down near her as well.

"I hear you, Aria, and I understand that you're really worried about him, but we have _no_ leads at all... we have nothing that can lead us to whatever A.D. is doing, _if_ A.D. has anything to do with this, that is," he said.

Suddenly, there was a loud knock on the door. Everyone was glancing at one another, all hoping the same thing... except Alex.

" _Please_ tell me that's Ezra," Hanna breathed, standing up.

She got up, walking to the door to open it. When she did, Officer Barry Maple stepped in with a perturbing expression on his face.

"I'm sure you all already know this, but I'm here representing the Rosewood Police Department," he started. "I hate to ruin the big day, but I had to inform you all that we have an APB out for Mary Drake. She recently escaped from prison and we are putting all our efforts into locating her, but it's proving to be a difficult task. We're labeling her as a dangerous person right now, so you all need to be cautious. And if you find out _anything_ relating to her whereabouts, please let the police department know as soon as possible."

"She _escaped_?" Alison asked, clearly shocked and furious. "What do you mean she _escaped_? How could you let this happen?"

Emily stood behind her, squeezing her shoulders to calm her down.

"We think she had help in escaping. There's no way she could have planned this by herself," Barry added. "I'm sorry. We really are doing all we can to put her behind bars. Once we get her back, we're planning on having her moved to the state prison to ensure that she will no longer be a threat to you or anyone else ever again."

"Um, thank you for letting us know, Officer Maple," Caleb stepped in, not wanting anyone else to yell at him.

"Of course. We'll definitely keep you all updated as we gather any new information," Barry assured them before stepping out the door.

Hanna shook her head as she shut the door after Barry Maple left.

"Am I crazy to think that maybe Mary Drake was A.D. all along?" Hanna bit her lip.

Alison didn't want to believe it. She had really started to grow fond of Mary, especially after her sacrifice— she took the blame for Archer Dunhill's murder and she gave Alison and Spencer the Lost Woods Resort. Alison wanted to believe that Mary was genuine with them.

"Why would she want to hurt us?" Alison denied. "She willingly went down for everything that happened to protect us. She _loves_ us. I know she loves Spencer, at least!"

Everyone turned to look at Alex.

"Spence, you've been awfully mute this whole time," Alison furrowed her eyebrows.

Alex sighed, putting on her best sad face.

"I'm sorry... I just... I thought that we were finally free of all of this— that we could _finally_ be happy, and I was just starting to feel like my life was becoming normal again. Now, it feels like the old times that I wanted to forget. And the worst part is that _Mary_ might be involved in all of this? _God_ , I really did trust her..."

Everyone's face softened and turned sympathetic. Their hearts broke for Spencer. Toby stood up from where he was sitting and came over to her, putting his hands on her shoulders and squeezing them gently to show her that he was there for her.

"Hey," he said gently, "we don't know if she's a part of this. We just have to be hopeful."

She huffed. "I would, but you know what they say about hope... it breeds eternal misery."

* * *

 _Note: So, there's that chapter! I really loved writing this one. I know the paragraphs got a little long, but hopefully you didn't skip over the whole deal where Emily and Alison's pregnancy was discussed. The show didn't touch on why Alex would want to do that to them, so I came up with a possible motive. And to anyone who wanted more about Wren, I got my chance to include more information about him, his relationship to Alex, and his involvement in the baby story._

 _Also, I think I'm having too much fun with Alex taking over Spencer's life... I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Leave a review!_


	4. Chapter 4

_Note: I'm always overwhelmed by your responses. Thank you all for your continued support; it truly does make me want to continue writing more. I really was never expecting to receive so much positive feedback! I'm super excited to continue this journey._

4

Spencer sighed. She traced her finger across the lines on her palm. She remembered her mother once telling her that the bottom was her lifeline. She analyzed it; it was quite long. But she didn't get why. She felt like she didn't have much time left. Or maybe she did, but she would be here for the rest of her long life— trapped and miserable. Was there really much point in having an extremely long lifeline if it was going to be spent as a prisoner?

The door rustled open. It was Alex. Spencer's heart dropped. Was it already Ezra's death hour?

"Hello, dearest _sister_ ," she smirked, slipping back into her British accent. She had been speaking with an American accent for so long; it was a relief to be herself again, actually.

Reluctantly, Spencer huffed out, "Hi..."

Alex opened a slit in Spencer's cell and slid a brown paper bag across the floor. Spencer raised her eyebrows.

"Oh come on, Spencer, don't be _afraid_ of it," she laughed wickedly, shaking her head. "It's just a mere sandwich; I'm sure you've had plenty of them in your perfect little life here. I was kind enough to bring you something to eat." She stopped, turning the other direction. "I even brought _Ezra_ a sandwich." She opened the slit in Ezra's cell and slid another brown paper bag his way. He furrowed his eyebrows, not understanding her "generosity." She stepped back over to Spencer's cell.

Alex smiled proudly. In a voice that only Spencer could hear, she said, "You may be wondering why he's still here... well, I decided that I want to make sure everything's my way before offing him. To tell him that I've won Aria's heart right before I chop him up into little pieces and maybe make him into his own little necklace like Wren? Freaking brilliant."

"The search is hectic. Everybody's worried about him," she continued, laughing wickedly again, rolling her eyes. "They think A.D. is back— they're right. But they think that _Mary Drake_ is the one responsible. It's a shame they're holding the wrong Drake accountable." She tapped her foot on the floor a few times, making a loud clanking sound that disturbed Spencer's ears. "It's funny, actually," she added. "They've all got no idea that the _real_ culprit is right in front of their eyes."

Spencer squinted her eyes.

"Aren't they suspicious that you're here right now instead of helping them find Mary and Ezra?"

She scoffed, shrugging her shoulders. "Maybe... probably. I suggested that I pick up some sandwiches from a nearby bakery so that everybody's got something to eat while they search. They all looked at me like I'm a freaking _loon_ — you should've been there! Too bad you couldn't be..." She shook her head, continuing, "I'm pretty sure Aria's stomach is not going to be able to take a sandwich right now."

Spencer clenched her fists. " _Alex_. Do whatever the hell you want to me, but do _not_ hurt her. Or any of my friends."

Alex rolled her eyes, "Last I recall, I'm the one who's calling the shots. You've got no say in this."

Spencer smirked. She lowered her voice, "Doesn't it bother you, though?"

Alex raised her eyebrows. "What are you referring to?"

"This thing with Aria," she continued, "doesn't it _bother_ you?"

"Why would it bother me?" Alex rolled her eyes. "I'm getting everything I've ever wanted. The perfect life. The perfect friends. The perfect lover."

"It's not perfect— not even _close_ ," Spencer jabbed. She still was speaking quietly, not wanting Ezra to hear anything. "Here's the thing: they'll never love you. And Aria will never love you. They will never love _Alex Drake_ ; they'll only ever love Spencer Hastings, and there's nothing you can do about that. That's right: Aria won't ever have feelings for you. She'll only have feelings for me." She tilted her head, speaking in a warning tone, "And if you go through with this, Alex, there's no chance she'll ever be able to forgive you."

Alex's face hardened. She was clearly being hit by Spencer's words, as much as she tried to pretend like she wasn't.

"Don't test me, Spencer," she warned. "You're already not on my good graces after you tried to escape."

"I'm not _testing_ you," Spencer shook her head. "I'm telling you how it is. You're getting yourself friends who don't really love you. It'll always be fake."

"Well, by the luck of the draw, I got the cheap end of the deal while you took home everything, so there's not much I can do about that!" Alex yelled aggressively, slamming on Spencer's door. Ezra heard her say that. He hadn't heard them talking about Aria, but he certainly did hear that. As he chewed on the sandwich, his eyes were side. "And this sure is better than the utter _garbage_ life I had to live over in England thanks to you."

"That wasn't my fault!" Spencer defended herself. "I'm _sorry_ that things went that way for you, but I literally had no idea that you existed until recently! I spent my whole life thinking that Veronica Hastings was my mother... I didn't know anything... I didn't know how messed up my family tree was."

Alex shook her head. "It doesn't matter. What matters is that you got this life, and I suffered. Now it's time for me to turn the tables."

"Wouldn't it have been better if you let her fall in love with the real you?" Spencer asked quietly and calmly. "Things wouldn't be so messed up... You wouldn't have to be somebody that you're not."

Alex scoffed loudly. "Spencer, Spencer, _Spencer_... you're a fool, aren't you? And I thought you were the smart one!" She was practically pressed against the glass of Spencer's cell now. "Things are _already_ messed up. Things have _been_ messed up since the moment I was sold like a worthless piece of garbage to a family in England who didn't give a damn about me. She can't fall in love with the real me because the real me is twisted. But now I can make everything go away... I can be Spencer Hastings. I can be who I should've been. I can get the life I deserved to have. Things would've been so different if Veronica had just taken me, too. I wouldn't be this way."

"But you're _not_ me," Spencer growled in the lowest voice level she could. "And no matter how hard you fake that American accent and say your best Spencer lines, you'll _never_ be me. And none of them will _ever_ give a real damn about you. Especially Aria."

Alex gritted her teeth together. Spencer hadn't seen her so angry this whole time, but there was now rage boiling visibly all through her body. She _hated_ these words, probably because she knew they were true and she couldn't keep fighting that reality. But Spencer knew that she was going to keep pretending like she accepted that she would let everyone love her as Spencer Hastings because she needed herself to be okay with it. She needed herself to not care that by taking this way out, nobody would ever love _her_.

"Okay, now I'm _seriously_ considering letting your fate match Ezra's. Keep your mouth shut."

With that said, Alex stormed out of the room. She felt defeated, but she couldn't let anybody know that. Especially Spencer. She couldn't let Spencer have yet another victory in life— she already got all the other victories.

As soon as she was gone, Ezra set his sandwich down and looked at Spencer with burning concern in his eyes.

"Spencer, what is going on?" he asked, trying to be soft, but the fear was audible. "What is with all the whispering?"

"She's... determined," Spencer huffed, feeling a shiver run down her spine.

Maybe she really would spend the rest of her lifeline locked in this cell. And she'd be alone soon, too, once Alex "chopped Ezra up."

x x x

"Hey, I'm back!" Alex announced, marching into the wedding hall room where Aria had gotten ready. She tossed a few brown paper bags of sandwiches on to the couch.

"That took an awful long time for the bakery that's literally five minutes from here," Hanna commented, looking at Alex suspiciously.

"And you're awfully _giddy_ considering that Aria's fiancé is missing," Alison spoke, almost viciously.

Alex furrowed her eyebrows. "Just because we're on the search, doesn't mean we shouldn't be eating. Besides, everyone didn't have anything to eat since they were expecting to eat after the ceremony... I'm sorry for knowing that we'd work better if we weren't all on empty stomachs."

Alison was about to retaliate, but Aria squeezed her arm to stop her.

"Guys, it's fine. Spencer was just trying to make this easier," she assured everyone. "Caleb's trying to track the location of Ezra's cell phone."

Caleb seemed frustrated. He shook his head.

"It's off, but the last location it was in was the Brew," he explained.

"Anything else?" Alex asked, raising her eyebrows. "Do we have any idea how to find Mary Drake?"

Caleb stared at the floor. "I hate to say it, but I'm stumped... literally. We have _nothing_ to go off of here."

"Maybe we could check the Brew," Aria tried to stay positive. "It did say that his last location was there... maybe he's just upstairs in his apartment. Maybe he turned his phone off because he didn't want to answer."

"Maybe..." Caleb muttered, but he didn't seem to _really_ buy it.

Aria buried her face in her knees, beginning to sob quietly. The others looked at her with concern, but were unsure of how to comfort and support her at a time like this. Alex's heart dropped seeing the girl crying like that. The one thing she hated most about all of this was that she had to keep on hurting Aria to get what she wanted. If there were a way to do this without hurting her, she would take that path instantly. But for now, all she could do was walk over to where she was and sit beside her, wrapping her arms around the tiny girl and holding her close. Aria lifted her head up, pressing herself against Alex's chest, finding a small sense of happiness from how safe she felt in her arms.

"I wasted everyone's time today and brought them here for a wedding... I had to disappoint everyone. And then Ezra _left_ me just because of a fight that we had and didn't show up to our own wedding!" Aria cried, letting her tears absorb into Alex's navy blue dress.

Alex pressed a hand to Aria's soft hair, stroking it gently.

"Aria, don't worry about the other people. Those guests are irrelevant right now," Alex told her. "And it's not your fault, whether Ezra was an ass and left you, or whether something really happened to him. There was nothing you could've done to stop this from happening, so stop blaming yourself. I don't ever wanna hear you blaming yourself for this again."

She shook her head, "I could've just told him sooner about what the doctors said, but I was too afraid of what he would say. I should've trusted him."

"It's not surprising that you didn't trust him after everything he's done to you," Alex hissed, her anger directed towards _Ezra_ and not Spencer.

Aria raised her eyebrows, taken back by how aggressive she was.

"Sorry..." she muttered.

Hanna tilted her head to the side, squinting her eyes, "Since when did you have such a burning hate for Ezra, Spence? Last I remember, you were trying your hardest to help with the wedding planning."

"That's because one, I'm a sucker for planning weddings. And _two_ , I thought that he made her happy, but it's clear that he doesn't. I accepted him because she seemed happy. But he has done nothing but hurt her again and again in the past! It's clear that he's never gonna stop hurting her!" Alex cried indignantly.

Everyone in the room stared at her, all startled by her rage towards Aria's fiancé. Aria just squeezed her arm again, trying to settle her down. She knew that there was more to her hatred for Ezra than she was letting on, but she couldn't say it aloud. Not right now, maybe not ever.

"Whatever," Alison shook it off, shifting her attention away from Alex and back to Caleb. "We should focus ourselves on finding Ezra right now. What are we gonna do?"

Caleb huffed, blinking quickly. He tried to think, but was lost.

"Beats me," he shrugged his shoulders. "If anyone else would like to contribute, feel free."

Alex let go of Aria, standing up from the couch.

"You know what? While you all brainstorm here, I'm just gonna visit the Brew and check the loft to see if he's there. Maybe we're lucky and he really is just hiding out with pre-wedding jitters and cold feet," she announced.

"Spence, do you want me to come with you?" Toby offered, perking his head up.

"I would, but you don't have to. This is a job that one person can handle themselves. I think it would be better if you focused on thinking of other ways to catch Mary Drake or find Ezra," she replied, smiling with fake pity as she slid out the door.

x x x

Alex was confused as of how she was going to get through this and put an end to their desperate search for Ezra Fitz and Mary Drake, but she had finally come up with a plan so simple that _anyone_ could have thought of it. She returned to where she was keeping Spencer and Ezra hostage, smiling proudly as she walked inside. Spencer's head shot up. She raised her eyebrows at her twin sister.

"Back already? You really missed me that much?"

"Very cute, sister," Alex rolled her eyes, slipping back into her British accent. "And no, I didn't _miss you_. I came to take care of things quite simply."

Ezra's eyes widened, fearing that the end was coming for him. He crawled back in his cell, pressing his back against the wall, looking at Alex fearfully. She laughed loudly and wickedly, knowing that she had invoked serious fear in him. She wanted to make him pay for winning Aria's heart after everything he had done to her, and it was all working out.

"Look at your face!" Alex sneered, looking at him. He kept his mouth shut, not wanting to say anything that would trigger her to act rashly. "Don't worry, love: you've got more time. Considering that everything is going my way, I decided I would spare you for a little longer. I mean... it's not like you can _go_ anywhere else."

Alex pulled open a door and pulled out a bag. Then, she stuck her hand inside of it and yanked out a phone. Ezra raised his eyebrows, recognizing that phone. It was _his_ phone.

"Why do you need my phone?" he suddenly asked, growing confused and curious.

"Oh, well, I'm not a big fan of weddings, so I decided that I would let Aria know that you've changed your mind about her. I'm telling her that you've left town!" she laughed. "I don't know why I didn't think of this earlier. It's so simple."

Spencer glared at her, folding her arms.

"Well, well, who peed in _your_ cheerios, sister?" Alex smirked, turning to instead look at Spencer's cell.

She took slow steps towards Spencer's cell, her smirk growing wider as she did so. She pressed her hands against the glass.

Lowering her voice into a whisper, Alex asked, "Would you like to know how _fantastic_ Aria's body felt pressed against mine this morning? Her moans, her whispers, her kisses, her touches... it was like a dream come true."

Spencer's mouth hung agape, watching Alex's smug expression carefully.

"You did this... _again_?" Spencer angrily asked, but kept her voice in a low level for Ezra's sake. "Stop hurting her. You don't deserve her if you treat her this way."

"Oh, I also shoved my tongue down Toby's throat for a hot minute, but it was just so that Aria would see and feel regretful for choosing to marry that... _oaf_ ," Alex rolled her eyes, gesturing over to Ezra, who had now stopped paying attention and instead was eating the leftovers of his sandwich from earlier.

Spencer gritted her teeth. She hated how Alex was messing with Toby and Aria. She especially hated what she was doing to Aria— manipulating her into thinking she was someone else, touching her when she didn't have permission, letting her feel conflicted about Ezra. And the thought of Alex's sick hands all over Aria's body made Spencer sick. But Alex seemed pleased with herself.

"Aria doesn't deserve this. She deserves someone who _loves_ her and would _never_ hurt her," Spencer furiously said.

"And what? You think that's _you_?" Alex scoffed while heat started rising to Spencer's cheeks. She turned her head away, avoiding Alex's eyes. "And don't be so protective over her, love. Have you forgotten that she's picked Ezra over you time after time? Over your friends?"

Spencer simply stared at the wall, refusing to look at Alex and refusing to continue this conversation. The whole thought of Alex touching Aria like that was extremely unsettling. Spencer didn't know what exactly it was about, but ever since Alex told her that she manipulated her into sex yet _again_ , there had been a huge knot in Spencer's stomach.

"I would stay to chat more, but everyone must be waiting for me," Alex announced with a grin.

Cheerfully, the girl trotted away and disappeared into darkness, clinging on to Ezra's phone tightly. Spencer finally turned her head, watching her disappear. She had no idea what that darkness led to, and frankly was worried that she would get lost in this death trap maze that Alex had set up. Spencer knew damn well that there was no way that Alex would make it easy to get out of here unless you knew the structure of it. But Spencer's stomach fell when she was reminded of the fact that there was a damn good chance that she would _never_ get out of here, and would instead become a permanent prisoner while Alex enjoyed manipulating everyone Spencer cared about.

Ezra popped the last bite of his sandwich into his mouth and then looked over at Spencer with worry in his eyes. Spencer looked away, trying to avoid his eyes because of the guilt she felt about everything. She knew that _she_ hadn't done anything in particular, but she was keeping a bad secret to protect Aria in the off-chance that they got out of this place. She just didn't want to tell him everything and destroy their relationship before they got a chance to talk about it. Unlike Alex, Spencer appreciated that Ezra had become a better guy and started to make Aria quite happy lately, even if Spencer wasn't always extremely fond of him. But Spencer just couldn't be the one to tell him about what happened and destroy their relationship.

"What exactly is her plan?" Ezra asked, confused. "I mean... what is the endgame, here?"

Spencer shrugged her shoulders.

Ezra furrowed his eyebrows, looking at her with suspicion in his eyes.

"I think you know more than you're letting on," he directly said. "She's always whispering things to you, but I don't know what she's saying. What is going on, Spencer? You shouldn't be lying to me and keeping things from me because... we have to rely on each other here. It's the only way that we're ever gonna get out of here."

Spencer sighed, "Well, for the sake of entertainment, she's trying to make sure your wedding with Aria never happens."

Ezra pressed his lips together.

"Yeah, she said that part. But what does she want?" he asked. "Why is she doing any of this? What is she trying to gain?"

"My life," she replied, chuckling bitterly. "She wants a happily ever after."

"With Toby?" he questioned.

Spencer swallowed hard before nodding her head. She decided that it was better to let him believe that for now. That was Alex's original plan, anyways: to do exactly what she was doing to Aria with Toby instead.

"I'm sorry," he said sympathetically. "This must be so hard for you... to know that she's using him like that... pretending to be you while she's with him... I'm so sorry."

Her heart was pounding. Lying to him about this was a lot harder than she expected.

"Don't be sorry for me," she shook her head. "We need to get out of here. Then, nobody will have to be sorry for anyone."

Ezra toyed with the cuff on his leg, tapping it with his fingernail.

"I'm more worried about the others than myself," he confessed. "Maybe she's gonna kill me; I don't know... But I can't stand the thought of her doing this to Aria. She's gonna think that I didn't show up to our wedding... she's gonna think that I don't really love her—"

" _Ezra_ ," she said sternly. "I know it's hard, but there are more important things right now. Aria will understand that you didn't show up when we get out of here and tell her that we were kinda being held hostage, so we couldn't come to the wedding. She's been through this type of stuff before."

"But right now, she'll think I don't love her," he sighed. "I know it sounds stupid. But what makes you so sure we'll ever really get out of here? I'm starting to think that we'll be here forever, and she'll go on thinking that I skipped town and didn't want to be with her."

"Well, maybe we could get out of here if we both stopped feeling sorry for everything and instead figured out how the hell we're gonna get out of here."

x x x

Sitting in the car, Alex sent Mona a text message first.

 _Clear out Ezra's apartment of all his stuff. Leave Aria's stuff. Make it look like he disappeared. -A.D._

 _Done. -M_

Alex had promised Mona forgiveness for killing Charlotte if she loyally helped her with her plans as A.D. now. Desperately, she agreed to do it. But of course, Alex didn't _really_ forgive her for what she did. There was no way she would ever forgive anyone for killing Charlotte, the one person she loved more than Aria. She would figure out how to punish Mona more later, but for now, she was accepting Mona's loyal services. And Mona was _really_ good at what she did; after all, she was the one who had led the game first.

Mona was desperate for friendship and acceptance, and Alex gave that to her in exchange for her services. It also allowed her to stay close to the girls: especially Hanna. Mona loved Hanna the most, so Alex promised her that she wouldn't make her do anything to hurt the blonde. But hurting Aria was a different story.

Mona's tech skills really came in handy. Alex had ordered the girl to hack the location of Ezra's phone, making it appear to be in another state far from Pennsylvania. She knew that Caleb was just _waiting_ to get a location alert. She smirked to herself in the car as she pulled Ezra's phone out, tapping away at the keyboard to send a farewell message to Aria.

 _I'm sorry, Aria. I couldn't go through with the wedding. I love you so much, but it just doesn't feel right anymore. I know I let you down again, but please don't come looking for me. I'm clearing my head. -E_

Proud after sending the message, Alex pulled the car door open and stepped out. She walked into the wedding hall and went to the room where Aria had gotten ready. Inside, everyone was gathered around Aria, looking down while she held her phone up with shaky hands. Hanna put her hands on Aria's shoulders, rubbing them gently to comfort her. Tears rolled down Aria's cheeks.

"What happened?" Alex asked breathily, voicing concern.

"Ezra texted," Alison spoke up, looking up from Aria's phone and into Alex's eyes instead. "He's gone."

Alex bit her lip.

"I went to his loft at the Brew. It's been cleared out," she announced. "All of his things are gone."

That was the final nail on the coffin for Aria. She shook her head, the tears coming out of her eyes now uncontrollably. Sure, it was better than him being kidnapped by Mary Drake or whoever A.D. was, but it still hurt like hell to know that he bailed on their wedding because "it just didn't feel right."

"I'm so sorry, Aria," Alex breathed.

She laughed bitterly, "That's what Ezra said, too. He said 'I'm so sorry' after messaging me that he couldn't go through with marrying me."

"Things will get better," Alison said, looking over at Aria again sympathetically. "You deserve better than him, anyways."

Aria sniffed. Their kind words were fine, but she just couldn't take anything in right now.

"Where did he even go?" Emily suddenly asked, glancing at Caleb, who was typing away furiously on his laptop.

"That's what I'm checking right now. I got an alert that his phone turned back on around the time that Aria got his text message," Caleb explained. He kept typing furiously for a few more seconds before announcing, "He's in Vermont right now."

"Vermont," Aria nodded her head aloud. "Yeah, makes sense... he's got some family over there. He's probably staying with them while he 'clears his head.'"

"You know, maybe he just needs some time to process your fight or something. Maybe he'll come back to you after he clears his head," Hanna offered.

Aria's face turned from sadness to anger.

"Let him come back," she said, almost viciously. "I'm glad that he's safe, but I'm not gonna sit here and patiently wait for him to return once he decides whether or not I'm worth marrying. He should've been here today. _He_ proposed to _me_. And now he just ran away, saying that he can't do it? I—I can't wait for him. I'm moving forward from now on. This is the last time that I'm gonna let him hurt me."

It was like music to Alex's ears. To hear Aria finally proclaim that she was finished with him was the most satisfying thing she had heard in a long time. Aria looked up from where she was sitting, locking eyes with Alex. A small smile emerged on the tiny girl's face. Alex smiled back at her.

"We didn't rent this hall forever, so we should get out of here already," Aria said, standing up. She wiped the tears off of her face. "I want to change out of this dress... and burn it, maybe."

Alex chuckled.

"I don't wanna be alone tonight, so... can we all hang out or something?" Aria asked.

"Of course," Alison nodded her head.

"What about at my barn?" Alex offered. "You can all sleep over there. Just like old times."

"Sounds good enough," Aria smiled, nodding her head.


End file.
